Category Archives: Morning Musings

Morning Musings

A Joyous Christmas!

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    ANGEL1    And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11).

None of the characters in the Christmas story were important or famous people from other people’s point of view…in fact, they just seemed very ordinary. Elisabeth and her husband Zechariah the priest, were two older people with no children. At the other end of the spectrum was Mary, engaged to Joseph the local carpenter, young and looking forwards to what life had in store for her. Both these couples had had a visit from the angel Gabriel telling them that they would each have a miraculous child born to them. Elisabeth was too old, and Mary was not yet married, but they both accepted this news as from the Lord Himself with Whom nothing was impossible. Once Mary had ascertained how this miracle would take place for her, she humbly said, “Let it be so as the Lord has said”.

Elisabeth was already six months pregnant by the time the angel visited Mary, and after talking with him, she immediately went to visit her older cousin. We wonder what these two pregnant ladies would have said to each other! We are told some of their conversation….it was not their condition or their symptoms they spoke about. It was the babies that they were carrying. In fact, Elisabeth the older lady, deferred to Mary the younger girl, recognising the importance of the child that Mary was carrying. She referred to her as “the mother of my Lord” and said how her baby had leaped in her womb at Mary’s greeting.

Mary immediately burst into a song of praise….this was not a song of someone else’s, this was a spontaneous series of quotations from the book of Psalms that she knew off by heart, and that glorified God for what He was about to do with and through these as-yet unborn sons that she and Elisabeth  were carrying. God’s plan of salvation for mankind was about to be unfolded, and these children were to be the means of bringing great joy to the world.

 

Morning Musings

Tolerance of Others’ Rights

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Brief time at Home     I’ve been thinking about this for a while, especially since our boat was stolen from our front yard one night while we slept. We had bought this boat only ten days before, and had it parked beside the house with a chain securely fastening (we thought) the wheel of the trailer.

When we looked out the window  one morning, the yard was empty. It took a while to register, and then we wailed, “The boat isn’t there!”

There was all the fuss of contacting the police and the insurance company and all that goes with these things. The police eventually tracked it down some weeks later minus the motor, but it got me thinking.

Surely we had the right to safely park our boat on our own property and see it still there every morning! But then the man who stole it felt he had the right to take it and sell it to give him some extra money. Fortunately for us (unfortunately for him) the law of the land said our “right” over-rode his “right”.

We hear so much about being tolerant these days. Should we have been tolerant of his “right” to our property? Perhaps we should be tolerant of some things, but we can never be tolerant of blatant wrong. We cannot be tolerant of those who harm others, either physically or mentally. How far do we take these “rights”?

People are entitled to their opinions…whose opinion is more “right” than others? My adult grandson, when losing in a discussion, immediately hides behind “Well, that’s just your opinion Gran”!

I’m still thinking this one out, and came to this conclusion…unless there is an unchanging standard of what is right and wrong, there will never be an answer. For me, that standard is God’s Word, the Bible from which stems all the laws of decency and reasonableness. What is your standard?

 

 

Morning Musings

Summer 2015-16

Ship MaileNovember 29th…

Next week will herald the beginning of the Southern Hemisphere’s summer. Summer in New Zealand is the season of sun, sand and fun on the water. But our weather in these islands of New Zealand tend to be very changeable and variable. Especially in the northern part of the country. The land is long and narrow and sandwiched between two large oceans….the Pacific Ocean on the east, and the Tasman Sea on the west. This is said to be one of the roughest and most treacherous seas in the world.

Most people living in Northland have some association with the sea, if not commercially, then recreationally. When the weather is good everyone who has a boat takes to the water, and on good days, little boats dot the wide open bays as far as one can see.

My great-grandfather’s family came from an area in England that was inland and as far as we know, had never had any association with the sea. When they emigrated to New Zealand in 1861, they had a four month ocean voyage ahead of them, and then a short coastal trip from Auckland to the Bay of Islands. From then on, their lives were inextricably tied up in the sea. All travel was done by sea; all their goods were transported by coastal scows; one son became a sea captain of sailing ships, another son turned to boat building. The sea was their very life blood, and their descendents have this love of the sea in their veins.

But like a lot of things, while the sea can be a good servant if used wisely, it can be a bad master when carelessly taken for granted. Treat it carefully and it will repay you a hundred-fold, but ignore the signs and one may even pay for it with one’s life!

 

 

Morning Musings

Anchor of Hope.

      Anchor  We had gone into a quiet bay for some rest and relaxation after a day of sailing, and dropped the anchor. But after a while we could see that we weren’t in quite the same place as we had been when the anchor went down. Somehow we had drifted, and were much further out in the bay. So we lifted the anchor, went forwards again, and put out more rope this time, pulling back on it to make sure that it had a good grip in the mud on the bottom.

It’s a lot like that in life at times. There will be times when we think we have a good hold on things and then we find that the winds of life have picked us up and carried us where we don’t want to be. It is in times like this that as we stop and take stock of what is happening around us; we are to go forwards once more and drop our anchor into the hope that God gives us in His Word, the Bible.

It is no use merely dropping the anchor; it is not the anchor that does the holding, it is what the anchor is sitting on. If the bottom has a lot of weed on it, the anchor will just slide along the top of it allowing our boat to drift. It is only as we put out more rope and pull back on it making sure that there is a good grip on the bottom, going through the weeds into the mud beneath, that we can rest in staying in one place. The rope is like the rope of faith in our life… the longer it is, the better the grip. The more we trust God in our difficulties, the stronger our faith becomes, and the firmer grip we have in the storms of life.

Without hope in our life, everything seems pointless, and we tend to get depressed. So it is that without the hope of God’s salvation, we have nothing to look forwards to. God doesn’t intend His people to be swayed around in the storms, but we must do our part by digging deep into His Word for ourselves

Morning Musings

Have You Ever Thought of This???

Quinn Joy aWhen a child is born it is totally dependent on its parents for all its needs. As it grows older, so this dependence is taught to turn to independence until the child is able to look after itself and ultimately leave home.

But in the spiritual life, it should be the other way around. We so often  loudly declare, “I’m not having anyone tell ME what to do!” The sign of a truly spiritual person is that of growing dependence on the Lord as they go through life. We are to learn to depend on the Lord for our decisions and our behaviour more and more as we go through life …the Lord said “Unless you become as a little child, you cannot have part in the kingdom of heaven”.

It doesn’t mean that we behave childishly, just the opposite in fact. The more mature a Christian becomes, the more he will depend on his Heavenly Father. Just as a small child depends on its father for its daily needs, so we have to learn to depend on our Heavenly Father for our spiritual needs. Without this dependence, we will surely make a mess of things in our life.

We remember that Jesus called Himself the “Good Shepherd”, and a shepherd’s job is to look after his sheep. He only allows what is for the ultimate good of the sheep, and sometimes we take ourselves out of the shepherd’s care. Then we have to endure the consequences of our foolish and independent actions. The trouble is that we often take those we love with us into this maze of trouble that we have deliberately  gone into.

Morning Musings

Go, All Blacks!

All Blacks UniformThe All Blacks are the New Zealand National rugby team, and as such are very special to New Zealanders. At the moment with the world rugby games on in UK, the teams’ results make news most days. Thinking about this and the distinctive uniforms that each team wears brought several thoughts to mind.

Firstly, each member of the team is chosen. In the same way each person who belongs to God has been invited, chosen and called. The only difference in this analogy is that ALL are called by God, but not all choose to respond to Him positively.

Secondly, all wear the uniform with pride. How much pride do we have in wearing the uniform that marks us out as different when we belong to God? Do we hide our light or do we wear our uniform openly?

Thirdly, our uniform and belonging to the team, shows commitment. We must live up to what the uniform stands for, and any member of the team who disgraces the uniform is dealt with immediately. How thankful we can be that God has patience with His people when we let Him down!

Fourthly, all members of the team wear it, and are responsible to each other. We cannot take it off and sneak into doubtful places to have “fun” which only brings shame in the end. Whenever a member of the national team gets into trouble when on tour, it makes the headlines at home in the papers. Let’s make sure we hold God’s standard high above reproach.

Fifthly,  members of the team need daily training, there can be no slacking off. In the same way we need to keep up our daily training in God’s Word. It is only as we do this that we can keep our spiritual strength up.

Lastly, team members depend on each other to get the ball to winning goal. We are told to pray for one another, and to bear each other’s burdens when things go wrong for them. It doesn’t take much effort to make a phone call to encourage those who are part of your fellowship. We must remember the owner of the team and keep our eyes on Him….

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Morning Musings

Looking Ahead

2015-09-20 23.49.47How this year has flown! As you get older, so the time seems to go quicker. What once seemed endless, now seems to have the end come too quickly. At the beginning of holidays, they seem to have no end, then suddenly the end has come. This is just like one’s life.

When we are growing up, the years stretch ahead of us endlessly.

When we are middle aged, they are still there…we think ten, twenty years, even thirty years still to go to do things in.

When we get older at retirement, now is the time to get things done, plenty of time and leisure.

When we reach our eighties, what is left? Looks have gone, health has gone, strength is not there, can’t be bothered, how much has been left unaccomplished? What remains?

Without the assurance of a life to come, nothing is left, there is no hope. But for someone who knows the Lord Jesus Christ, there is everything to look forwards to. Not only will we see Him face to face, but there will be so much more to discover. The Bible tells us that “eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

    Did you notice that phrase….”for those who love Him”? If we don’t love Him enough to get to know Him while here on earth, how are we going to love Him in a time to come? It is never too late to come to Him…He is calling to all….”Come until Me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  What a wonderful invitation!

Morning Musings

Birds Scrapping!

Bird FeederWe have put a bird feeder outside our dining-room window, and it gives us a lot of pleasure watching the little birds feeding there. But you know, even among the birds there is continual scrapping going on. The small silver-eyes stand on a branch nearest the feeder and fluff their little wings angrily at each other. The bold mynah struts around at the base of the tree and even jumps up on the branch to take a few pecks before he gets chased off. The sparrows take no notice of the others and greedily grab as many beakfuls as they can while the others are scrapping among themselves.

It reminded me of how we as people often scrap among ourselves, sometimes vying for the better places or positions. This is not how we are meant to behave, especially in church situations. The Lord Jesus told us to be prepared to take the humble place and wait for others to give us a higher position rather than angrily (or sneakily)  try to take it from others.

It is not smart to behave like this anywhere, and only causes hurtful situations that often can never be remedied. People can forgive, but they very seldom completely forget!